SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Perhaps no environmental topic is as controversial in California as the Delta Tunnel.
It was once proposed as a pair of tunnels by Governor Jerry Brown, the current project under Governor Gavin Newsom is a single tunnel, larger than the English Channel tunnel. The tunnel is a key part of the State Water Project’s new risk-informed strategic plan.
That strategic plan is known as Elevate to '28. It lists five goals that it says will help to make the State Water Project (SWP) "the most reliable, sustainable, and resilient water provider for the people and environment of California, now and for future generations."
To learn more about the plan, ABC10 Meteorologist Brenden Mincheff invited Tony Meyers, the Principal Operating Officer for the State Water Project for a conversation. Here are some key takeaways from that.
1. What is the State Water Project?
The SWP is responsible for delivering water to 27 million Californians, more than two-thirds of the state's population.
"The State Water Project is the largest state-owned water facility in the United States and one of the largest in the world," said Meyers. "It stretches more than 700 miles, more than two-thirds of the length of the state. And it also captures and stores up to 5.8 million acre feet of water every year."
That's enough water for 15 million homes every year in storage. But it's more than just water storage. It also provides flood protection, and from the human standpoint, it's opportunity.
There's 2,400 people working on the SWP, "providing services to help keep the engine oiled and running so we can provide that water throughout the state from Northern California all the way down through Southern California," said Meyers. One of the challenges with regards to the SWP workforce is what Meyers referred to as the "silver tsunami."
"The acceleration of retiring peoples that are exiting with 25, 30 and 40 years experience," said Meyers. "We have to accelerate our ability to train up new leaders and step into the gap to be able to take over and continue this incredible operation.
2. Optimizing Infrastructure for Climate Change
"Elevate to '28 was created for the need to address a number of accelerating risks that we're facing since our last plan was published in 2019," said Meyers. "Key among those (is) our new hotter and drier climate reality that we're facing in light of climate change."
The State Water Project has been around for decades, however the climate and weather patterns it was designed for no longer exist.
"We've got 40 to 60 year old assets... and just think of it as driving around in a 40 to 60-year-old car that's continuing to work every day, day after day, the maintenance on that is incredible to keep it fully functioning and operational," said Meyers. "Our hotter and drier climate reality is already here, not something we're talking about in the future. It's something that we've got to not just plan for but we got to start enacting."
Key among those infrastructure adaptations is the Delta Conveyance Project, better known as the Delta tunnel.
3. The Delta Tunnel
"One of our greatest climate adaptation strategies that we have right now to ensure that we can continue delivering affordable, clean, sustainable and resilient water into the future for the next 20 to 40 years is the Delta Conveyance Project," said Meyers. "And in fact, this year, and this year alone, if Delta conveyance had been constructed by now we'd have been able to move more than 900,000 acre feet of water that we haven't been able to. Oh, and also be able to do that without impacting endangered species. We can do that without harming the fish that are in the Delta or trying to migrate through the Delta. So it's a very key element of our strategy for mitigating for climate change and climate adaptation."
Meyers also explained how the tunnel would protect against sea level rise, saltwater intrusion and even earthquakes.
"If we had an earthquake of roughly 6.3, 6.5 size on any one of the multiple faults that underlie the Delta (it) could level the levees that are in the Delta and cause the water system to completely come to a halt," said Meyers. "50% of all the water that moves through California to serve water populations flows through the Delta."
When asked about the opposition to the tunnel, specifically regarding part of a statement from Restore the Delta, he called it a little shortsighted.
"The ability to have a water system that you've modeled six ways from Sunday, that you understand that you're only taking that water when the water is available, not at low flow conditions, but when there's a lot of excess water, where you get your bypass that's just flowing out to the ocean through the bay, you have the ability to capture that water and move that water with minimal impacts through the tunnel, and not through the Delta... It's critical to get that under control and make sure we have a robust system that can address earthquakes and climate change," said Meyers.
Mincheff also sat down with Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the aforementioned Restore the Delta. She's head of an organization that works to protect and, as the name implies, restore the Delta. She's also a very vocal critic of the tunnel.
1. Protecting The Delta
"Restore the Delta is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to work and advocate for a healthy Delta, estuary and healthy communities situated within that estuary," said Barrigan-Parrilla.
She's been with the organization for decades and she calls the Delta home. She knows what she's fighting for.
"It's the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "It is home to 750 native species. It's the largest strip of prime farmland in California. It's 1,100 miles of waterways. And it has one of the most wonderful diverse communities in the world, definitely within the state. It is... becoming a hub of technology, industry and agriculture. There are wonderful urban rural connections, and it's a very young region also."
2. Opposition to the Tunnel
With all of the Delta's importance, there also comes controversy.
When asked about the SWP's Elevate to '28 strategic plan, Barrigan-Parrilla was quick to answer: "It's woefully incomplete."
"In some ways, (it) has some good pieces," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "But it's really misguided because it is still tied to a water management system that withdraws and takes too much water from the Delta, and the Delta tunnel will exasperate it all."
I shared with her what Meyers had said about the tunnel and why the state views it as necessary, from protecting against earthquakes to climate change.
"This is the part that continues to break our hearts," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "We sat with the design construction group for two years and tried to figure out if we could get real answers to make the project work. When you dig into the details of the environmental impact report, it simply allows for greater exported water during dry periods. And that's what we can't sustain."
"We had to file litigation against the Delta tunnel project. There are a number of lawsuits," continued Barrigan-Parrilla. "That's the route we had to take because our concerns were not addressed."
Ultimately, Barrigan-Parrilla isn't against sharing water.
"We know we're always going to have to share water. But there are ways to do it much more cost effectively, share that water and protect the estuary," she said.
The state has made it clear that the Delta tunnel is going to be a key part of California's water future. Meyers said construction should start around 2030, and it's hoped the tunnel will be online by 2044.
"The tunnel is going to take between permitting and construction 20 years to bring online," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "There is a lot that's going to happen with climate change in those 20 years. They have to shore up the levees. They have to make the Delta really climate resistant now, so that water can continue to be exported to Southern California."
3. Moving Forward
Barrigan-Parrilla knows the clock is ticking.
"What's going to happen with the estuary is going to be harder to manage climate change going in the future, if we don't get it right now," she said.
To that end, outside of the lawsuits and workshops with state agencies on the tunnel, Restore the Delta is doing a lot of work alongside other Delta organizations including the Delta Stewardship Council, the Delta Conservancy and the Delta Protection Commission.
"There's a lot of good work, and there's a lot of goodwill," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "There are a lot of people who want to work together. If we could just get the Bay Delta Plan finished and the tunnel out of the way, I think it would move forward rapidly."
